Modi govt passes CAA: What is it about

Just ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Modi government has announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The move comes nearly four years after the law was passed. Here's what you need to know about CAA.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2019. This act amends the Citizenship Act of 1955, which defines who can be considered an Indian citizen and the procedure for acquiring Indian citizenship.

The key provision of the CAA is to provide a path to Indian citizenship for persecuted minority refugees (excepting those who are Muslim) from neighboring countries, who seek to become Indian citizens. The CAA thus grants Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who entered India before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in these countries. However, CAA does not automatically give these refugees citizenship — it just makes them eligible to apply for it.

The applicant must prove that they have come to India before December 31, 2014 and have lived in India for the last five years. The applicant also has to prove that he/she fled from their native countries due to religious persecution. Fulling said criteria will make them eligible to apply for Indian citizenship. After that, it will be up to the Government of India to decide whether to grant citizenship or not.

The CAA was an integral part of the BJP’s manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its 2021-22 Annual Report revealed that from April 1, 2021 to December 31 2021, a total of 1414 citizenship certificates were granted by authorities.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had last month said that the CAA would be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections this year.